Cracks in Trump's anti-Iran rhetoric

US President Donald Trump speaks during the announcement of a a newly designed, Made in America pharmaceutical glass bottle jointly developed by Merck, Pfizer and Corning during a Made in America Week event in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington, DC, July 20, 2017. (Photo by AFP)

US President Donald Trump this week told the Congress that Iran was complying with a landmark nuclear deal it signed in 2015 with six world powers. This was the second time that Trump confirmed Iran's compliance with the deal - the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action or the JCPOA. He had promised to rip up the JCPOA when he was campaigning for office. So it must have been like swallowing a bitter pill to testify again that Iran was doing its share of the deal. This was indeed good news for other signatories of the deal that had already stood against Trump's insistence to kill the JCPOA. But to the US president's supporters, it was definitely a blow to the anti-Iran image he had created.

New Israeli security measures at Al-Aqsa Compound

Israel’s new security measures at Islam’s third holiest site have raised tensions to new levels in occupied Jerusalem al-Quds. The Israelis say the new equipment installation is a response to a deadly shooting at the site on Friday. But the measures have triggered reactions from Palestinians who fear they could be sign of an Israeli takeover. They say Israel is altering the internationally recognized status quo which gives Muslims control over the holy site. Palestinians have for days refused to go inside the mosque through the detectors and instead gather for prayers in nearby streets. This has led to confrontations between Israeli forces and Muslims around the holy compound.